Sunshiny day; Eureka, McKinleyville temperatures break record

National Weather Service officials on Wednesday reported the hottest April 24 on record in the Eureka and McKinleyville areas.

"I would say it is unusual," meteorologist Doug Boushey said. "The only reason we hit a record (in Eureka) today is because the previous record is so wimpy."

Temperatures in the Eureka area peaked at 70 degrees. The previous record for temperatures in the Eureka area was 68 degrees, set in 1913.

McKinleyville saw a peak temperature of 79 degrees -- 12 degrees higher than the record of 67 degrees set in 1992.

The normal temperature in the Eureka area for April 24 is 58 degrees. In McKinleyville, it is 57 degrees.

"April can be kind of a wild card," Boushey said. "It can be really rainy and chilly, or it can be the way it is now."

Ethan Maguire, an employee at Ultimate Yogurt in Eureka, said it was "pretty busy" for a Wednesday afternoon.

"Throughout the whole day, it's been just a constant stream of people," Maguire said.

Aylea Maxwell, an Arcata Scoop employee, said the ice cream shop has been busy day and night.

"It's definitely ice cream weather, even for the people who don't regularly get ice cream," she said.

Meteorologist Shawn Palmquist said the Hoopa area peaked at a near-record temperature of 87 degrees. The record, set in 1992, is 88 degrees.

Areas near Orick peaked at 91 degrees, about 15 to 20 degrees above normal. Temperatures in the Fortuna area were also 15 to 20 degrees above normal at 87 degrees. The Redway area was 4 to 6 degrees below the normal temperature at 86 degrees.

Boushey said he "seriously doubts" the high temperatures will continue, and the record temperature in the Eureka area for April was 80 degrees, set on April 9, 1989.

"It would take something really unusual to get that high again," he said. The higher than normal temperature on Wednesday was due to strong offshore winds bringing warmer inland air out to the coast, Boushey said.

National Weather Service data shows coastal temperatures in the areas near Eureka will see an average high of 57 degrees for the rest of the week, with lower temperatures on Sunday and Monday.

It will be slightly warmer in areas near McKinleyville and Fortuna, which are showing an average high of 61 degrees and 63 degrees, respectively, for the rest of the week.

Temperatures in Hoopa and Orick are expected to drop to the high 60s or low 70s. Redway is expected to see temperatures in the mid- to high 70s.